


The Mask We Wear

by DiaH20



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-02-11 12:06:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12934920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiaH20/pseuds/DiaH20
Summary: A/N:I do have some art of both Aethus' regular and his work mask, as well as his character bio on DeviantArt:https://diah20.deviantart.com/gallery/64967276/The-Mask-We-WearI also have a piece of music that I suggest for this chapter: "Payday The Heist - Code Silver".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oqrEv8tEbgThere will be a cue in the text where music starts playing. You don't have to listen to it, but I do highly suggest it. :DWithout further do, here's Chapter 1 of The Mask We Wear.EDIT:I've decided to remove the timestamps and dates. It felt restrictive, so I will not be using them in the future. It won't change how the story will unfold though. Just mentioning it, so people don't get confused as to why something is missing.





	1. Silver Amber

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I do have some art of both Aethus' regular and his work mask, as well as his character bio on DeviantArt:  
> https://diah20.deviantart.com/gallery/64967276/The-Mask-We-Wear
> 
> I also have a piece of music that I suggest for this chapter: "Payday The Heist - Code Silver".  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oqrEv8tEbg
> 
> There will be a cue in the text where music starts playing. You don't have to listen to it, but I do highly suggest it. :D  
> Without further do, here's Chapter 1 of The Mask We Wear.
> 
> EDIT:
> 
> I've decided to remove the timestamps and dates. It felt restrictive, so I will not be using them in the future. It won't change how the story will unfold though. Just mentioning it, so people don't get confused as to why something is missing.

“Good to see you, Mr. Culpex.”

“Good to be here, Dr. Jones.”

The same cheerful but sarcastic response, like always. Aethus had adopted it by now, as he had become a regular at the hospital for the last few months. He didn’t dislike going to see the dermatologist for his needed check-up or “Lisa”, after she had insisted on him calling her by name. In fact, he had actually grown quite fond of the North American raccoon over time. He also knew that the doctor had to put on that happy façade for her patients, but it was a shoddy one at that. He’d realised this the first time that he’d seen her, when he went to see her for his first check-up after his initial ER-visit. 

When he first came in, she was shocked to say the least. She was wearing the same façade as she was currently, but he saw straight through it and saw the almost fearful reaction when she first laid eyes on his exposed wound. He was already in the process of constructing and painting his mask, as he disliked the looks of disgust and fear he got when walking down the street, but the wounds didn’t allow him to don it yet, as the scars were still sore. 

When she had mentioned “fur implants”, he practically jumped at the opportunity and they were successfully implanted a few days later. Lisa was strongly advising him against doing it so soon, as the wound still needed to heal, but he told her that he could handle the pain and that it would be worth it.

After finding out, as he did go through with it and without her explicit permission, she chewed him out for some time, but also showed a genuine smile afterwards, when she saw how the implants had made Aethus somewhat less insecure about his scars.

It brought him great joy to sometimes see her façade crack and to see her show the same genuine smile, so he would always set out to make it happen.

It has already been so long since their first meeting. While he did like her, he would sometimes wish that they had never met. It would imply that the accident never happened. 

It had been so long since that damned day. Since that damned accident. Since he had been “let go” from his old job. Shorty after that, he had been on his own. He had scared his fiancée away. Scared her away with this ugly, disgusting, poor excuse of a…

Stop.

Stop thinking that.

It’ll just end with you having thoughts. Unsavoury thoughts. Thoughts that mammals would be afraid to hear. Thoughts that would make mammals recoil.

“Stop,” or so he would mentally scold himself.

Unaware of Aethus’ internal struggle, the doctor continued without a second thought. “Honey, we both know that I’d rather have you call me by name,” she chided him in an almost motherly way.

Aethus was quick to respond, saying. “You’re the one who greeted me with ‘Mr. Culpex’, so it was only fair, honey,” putting a little emphasis on the last word. Accompanied by his shrug and the touch of humour in his voice, Lisa knew that he meant no harm with the comment.

“Anyways, now that we’re past the meaningless pleasantries, as we’ve already seen each other plenty of times, how about we take a look behind that mask?”

Keeping the irony of the doctor’s statement to himself, he begrudgingly removed his mask and placed it on the nearby desk. He had yet to understand how the doctor didn’t recoil anymore when seeing his face. “Probably grew used to it,” Aethus thought to himself.

“Aethus, I’ve yet to understand why you insist on covering your face with that mask,” Lisa said, a slight worry present in her voice.

“Lisa, we both know why. It’s to stop mammals being scared or recoiling when they see me.” His words were cold and devoid of emotion. It was one of many times that someone had asked him a similar question. These were all mammals, of which there weren’t many, that knew what was behind the mask. Those who knew of his accident and, more notably, his scars.

“Come on, Aethus, we both know that the scars aren’t as…,” Lisa countered, before being interrupted.

“Don’t give me that spiel again, as I do not care for it. You keep repeating those words, as if you think I’m stupid enough to know the contrary. Let’s just get this over with.”

Knowing better than to press the issue, Lisa complied and started her examination. The wounds had healed well and with the added fur implants, the remaining scars were barely visible. It did truly bother Lisa that Aethus was as insecure about his face as he was showing. The fur implants, even if he got them without her permission, had done a wonderful job concealing the scarring. The only reason she knew where the scarring was, was because she had seen him before he had the fur implants. Without that prior knowledge, you’d only be able to see the wound if you were to go looking for it.

“Perhaps, one day…,” Lisa thought, not realising that she was thinking aloud again.

“What was that?” Aethus asked, after hearing her mumble slightly.

“Oh, nothing, don’t worry about it,” she quickly responded, internally scolding herself.

“You sure?”

“Yes, so don’t worry about it.”

Conceding, Aethus said, “Alright, I won’t pry.” He had seen the brief flash of worry in her features. For a second, she looked like she had been caught with her paw in the cookie jar. It made him stifle a laugh.

Confused as to why he was stifling a laugh, Lisa asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Your expression was just perfect a second ago. It looked like you got caught doing something you shouldn’t have been,” Aethus replied.

“I did not!”

“It doesn’t take a scientist to see it, and I am one, so I should know,” he replied with a bit of friendly sass. 

“Damnit,” Lisa mumbled, with the slight smile that Aethus was hoping to trigger creeping on her muzzle.

“I can still hear ya,” Aethus responded, mocking her slightly by adding a childlike emphasis at the end.

The smile now completely covering her muzzle, she knew that she’d lost, so she responded jovially, “Har, har. I can’t win with you, can I?”

“Nope” came as a quick response.

The examination continued for another 5 or so minutes, with them shooting barbs back and forth.

Their conversation got cut off when the hospital intercom came on:

“Paging Dr. Silver Amber. Dr. Silver Amber to the maternity ward.”

After the intercom had delivered its message, the conversation between Aethus and Lisa ended in an uneasy silence. 

Aethus found the doctor’s name quite odd. “Silver Amber…,” he mumbled to himself.

Feeling it would work well to break the awkward silence between them, Aethus spoke up. “That’s quite an uncommon name, don’t you think?”

Lisa didn’t respond. She seemed lost in her own world.

Repeating himself, Aethus slightly raised his voice to grab Lisa’s attention: “Don’t you think?”

“Oh, yes, I agree.”

“Agree on what?” Aethus quizzed, doubting that she had heard him.

She responded, saying, “I’m sorry: What was the question again?”

“I was wondering whether or not you found the name of the doctor who was just paged uncommon as well.”

That’s when Aethus saw it. The slight twitch in her eye. The slight dilation of her pupils. The sudden change in her demeanour. She knew something that he didn’t. That was not going to be for long.

Aethus decided to be subtle, to try and catch her off guard, so she could potentially accidently spill the beans. 

“What’s the matter? Not a friend of yours?”

“No, it’s not that…” Lisa was nervous; he could sense it. She was, however, telling the truth.

“A love interest, perhaps?”

“What? No! No, nothing like that!”, she responded without being flustered.

“You make it sound like the doctor’s a ghost. Hell, like they don’t even exist.”

She did not respond to his statement. She just froze up and said nothing.

“Bingo,” Aethus thought.

Lisa seemed to catch onto the fact that Aethus was fishing for answers and that got her more on edge.

“W-w-what? Th-th-there are n-n-no such things as gh-ghosts…”, she stuttered, ending with a nervous chuckle.

“Lisa,” Aethus started, before being interrupted.

“Why would you even think that?” Lisa said. She seemed to get more nervous the more she kept talking.

“Perfect,” Aethus thought to himself before he repeated himself.

“Lisa,” he said, this time with a slight threat present in his speech.

“Especially you, a scientist for that matter, should know this, I mean…”, Lisa responded. She seemed to get more anxious by the second. Aethus hated making her sweat like that, but he now knew that she was hiding something from him. Something important.

“LISA!”, he almost shouted. This made her go quiet. She was eyeing him and he could see that she was unsure what to do.

“What does ‘Silver Amber’ mean?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she replied, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. 

“Alright, then I’ll take your word for it,” Aethus happily piped up. Lisa looked like an enormous amount of weight had been lifted from her.

Aethus continued, “Anyways, I’ll be on my way then. I’m going to go to the maternity ward. Those pups are just too cute and I could do with some cuteness right about now.”

Whilst talking, he had grabbed his trench coat and put it on. He went for the door handle, but was promptly pulled back by Lisa.

“NO!”, Lisa shouted, before realising that she had.

Trying to regain her composure, she said, “I mean... Umm... Why not just go home and relax? Surely, you must be tired.”

Knowing that she was trying to keep him away from going to the maternity ward, he now knew that she was hiding something. In the most oblivious sounding voice he could muster, he responded, “Nope, I’m actually feeling quite energetic today. So, without further ado, if I may.”

He reached for the door once more, though this time, he made sure to do it ever so slightly faster. He wasn’t at all surprised when Lisa blocked his way again, though, this time, she actually used her full body to block him from leaving. She seemed to have forgotten that raccoons aren’t that tall, as he politely pushed past her.

“3, 2, 1…”, Aethus thought to himself, knowing that he had pressured the procyon enough and that she would be very prone to spill.

“Alright! Alright…”, she conceded. “I’ll tell you. Just promise me that you won’t tell anyone and that you won’t go to the maternity ward. None of the staff are supposed to tell patients the codes that are used, in order to avoid potential panic.”

Aethus hated forcing Lisa to do something that she was not comfortable with, but his curiosity got the better of him. “I’ll promise not to tell others what you are about to tell me.” He hoped that she didn’t realise that he hadn’t completely agreed with what she wanted.

Luckily for him, due to her currently agitated mindset, she glanced over it. “Alright. Like you’ve probably realised, there is no ‘Dr. Silver Amber’ that works here.”

Aethus hummed to show that he understood.

Lisa continued, “In fact, ‘Silver’ and ‘Amber’ are both codes. Among doctors in this hospital, as it can vary per hospital, those two colours are more commonly known as ‘Code Silver’ and ‘Code Amber’.”

Aethus interjected, saying, “That’s awfully inconvenient that codes differ per hospital, don’t you think?” He was trying to slightly put her at ease with small talk, as she was clearly and understandably not comfortable with breaking protocol.

“Indeed, it is, but they are working on developing codes that are to be used in every hospital, so that’s something. Anyways, ‘Code Silver’ means that there is a combative individual, whether it’d be a patient, relatives or whatever, present in the building and that they have a weapon. This, as well as that there is at least one hostage involved.”

Aethus was quite shocked by this. Mumbling, more to himself than anyone else, he said, “Why would a hospital need a code for a combative person? Why would you even be aggressive in a hospital of all places? In the maternity ward nonetheless…” 

Only after repeating it to himself did it dawn upon him that this hostage situation was taking place in the maternity ward. Finding it a little hard to believe, he had to be sure.

He gave Lisa a look of slight disgust and horror, and, more vocally this time, said, “Wait… Didn’t the intercom say that this ‘Dr. Silver Amber’ was needed at the maternity ward?”

Lisa was silent and did nothing more but nod.

Wanting to get up and do something, Aethus realised that he only knew one part of two-part code.

Feeling his heart sink, he asked, “And what does ‘Code Amber’ mean?”

Her façade now completely gone, she responded and sounded as if she was about to burst into tears. “Well, ‘Code Amber’, or more commonly known as ‘Amber Alert’, is used to describe infant and/or child abduction. Probably the former, considering the location.”

Hearing that made something snap within Aethus. He was known among most as calm. He wouldn’t flare up and let emotions reign. At least, it wasn’t common and few knew of his very rare outbursts. This news, however, had made Lisa one of the people to see such an outburst.

(Start music)

“WHAT?!”, he shouted in complete disbelief. 

How _dare_ someone take an infant hostage?! What is wrong with that mammal?! No, such mammal doesn’t _deserve_ that title. That sad excuse of a lifeform! That **waste** of atoms!

Lisa was surprised to say the least. She had heard Aethus make a snarky comment at times, but never had she seen him like that. That single word was oozing with anger and hate. An amount that she didn’t think was possible to put in one word. Yet, Aethus had managed.

She wasn’t scared of Aethus, but she did go completely rigid as a result of his outburst. Another doctor came in with a worried look on their face. They came in and saw Aethus with his paws on his head and pacing around, as well as that Lisa was completely tensed up.

Walking over to Lisa, they asked what had happened. Lisa lied and said that she had just delivered some bad news regarding the costs of his treatment. She also said that she was fine and that she was just surprised by his outburst. After convincing the doctor that Aethus was not a threat to anyone, Lisa ushered the doctor out of the room and closed the door. 

While Aethus had realised that his outburst and the accompanied shout was noticed by Lisa, he failed to care, for he was lost in his own world of anger and disbelief. He was completely unaware of the doctor entering and leaving, only realising that the door closed after the doctor had left.

Now somewhat calmed down, Aethus went over to his coat and got his work mask out, placing it on his muzzle. Lisa, having never seen this mask before, asked, “Why do you own two masks?”

“I just like to switch things up, is all. One mask can get boring.”

“I can see that, but that mask is so… broken.”

“Yeah, but it adds character, wouldn’t you say?”, Aethus quipped, trying to sound natural.

“I suppose…,” Lisa responded, though he could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

“Welp, you should probably call the ZPD.”

“They’ve probably already been called, so why?”, Lisa quizzed, unsure as to why Aethus would suggest such a thing.

With voice that was devoid of any emotion, Aethus responded, “Because you should probably inform them of the black masked mammal that is going after ‘Dr. Silver Amber’.”

“What black masked…”, she stopped when she realised that he was referring to himself and was quick to respond, “No! Wait! Halt! Stop! You promised that you would **not** go to the maternity ward!”

“I only promised not to tell anyone else, my dear. I never promised the second bit.”

“No! I can’t allow you to go! We’re talking a hostage situation with an armed assailant!”, Lisa was almost begging him not to go, and as much as it hurt him to see her like this, he couldn’t sit around and do nothing.

“I’m sorry, but I have to. Besides,” he said whilst lifting both sides of his coat, revealing his trusty revolver and silenced pistol, “I think that I can handle myself.”

There was no response after that and Aethus hadn’t expected anything else. After all, he had just revealed and shown her that he was carrying 2 firearms with him in his jacket and in a _hospital_.

After giving her a second or two to recover from the initial shock, he continued, “So, best for you to notify the ZPD that they already have a mammal working for them on the inside and that he is wearing a black, tattered mask. Meanwhile, I have some ‘business’ to attend to.”

Before he could leave, Lisa stopped him a third time, though, this time, merely by saying, “Just… Be careful. Someone really cares about you, okay?” She ended this with a slight smile, and strangely enough, it was a genuine one.

“I will: Don’t worry about me,” Aethus said as he was stepping out. Before disappearing around the corner and heading to the maternity ward, he said, “Thank you… For everything… And for what it's worth: I'm sorry.”

Now in the hallway, he hurried and almost ran to one of the building’s staircases. It had a floor plan of the current floor on the wall next to the staircase, as well as a list of departments and where they could be found.

He found the maternity ward to be three floors below him, so he started his descend. Arriving on the second floor, he readied himself before heading in. He didn’t have any spare ammunition on him, as he didn’t think that he would be using his guns today. This left him with 15 in the Beretta and 6 in the revolver. Deciding against using the loud revolver, as to not startle any more infants than necessary, he unholstered his M9 and pushed passed the door that separated the second floor from the staircase.

He was greeted by something that none would ever want to see in a hospital.

Hospital personnel hiding behind raised desks, scared for their lives. Lights flashing red and illuminating the hallways on intervals, as broken light fixtures were sparking and dangled from the ceiling. A blaring alarm could be heard and was omnipresent. Everything screamed “Danger”.

Before storming off to find whoever had the nerve to take an infant hostage, an odd moment of clarity struck him, and he found himself morbidly chuckling at the question. 

“From chemist to criminal: How the hell did that happen?”


	2. Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I present you the second chapter of 'The Mask We Wear'.
> 
> I'm just putting it out there now: I'm not the best when it comes to timely updates, as there sadly is this beautiful thing called 'procrastination'. 
> 
> I hope that you'll bear with me :D

_This is ZNR on 101 FM, bringing you the early morning news. First and foremost, we’ll give you a rundown of today’s jams. The first one of today’s on…_

Turning off the infernal device on his side of the bed, he rolled over to be greeted by two eyes staring at him contently.

“Morning, foxy.” The hoary fox that was now in front of him kept her eyes trained on him. As he had turned around, his eyes travelled over the vixen’s body that was covered by their shared sheets. His eyes made their way upwards and they momentarily locked onto the vixen’s eyes, as her muzzle was adorned with a loving smile.

“Morning to you too, Ms. Prado.”

“Not for long, and you know it,” she coyly replied, whilst adding a wink to emphasize her point.

Drawing her in for a quick kiss, Aethus left the bed and went to the bathroom for his morning routine. At least, that was the plan.

He only managed to stand up from the bed before he was pulled right back onto it. She would always do this, as a way of showing affection. She knew perfectly well that he had to leave, but it never stopped her.

Smiling, he gave her another quick peck on the cheek, before getting up again. This time, he actually managed to get to the bathroom and started his morning routine.

Meanwhile, Dolores or ‘Ms. Prado’ had also rolled out of bed and put her bathrobe on. She always started an hour later than Aethus and with the tailor store where she worked only being a five-minute bus ride away from their apartment, she had plenty of time in the morning to fully awaken from her slumber.

Yet, she always got up at the same time as Aethus. She’d pull her shenanigans and make him a black coffee with two slices of toast whilst he was getting ready for the day. Even if he’d always insist that she should stay in bed and get another hour of shut-eye, she wouldn’t have any of it and always get up at the same time. Not that Aethus minded, mind you.

Emerging from the bathroom after having freshened himself up, Aethus made his way over to the kitchen, where Dolores had set down two plates and two mugs of steaming coffee.

Walking past her, he quickly hugged her from behind and nuzzled her, before walking around to and sitting down on the other side of the counter. After finishing his meal, he lost himself to his thoughts as he was staring at his now empty plate.

“Well, I have good news and bad news.”

Dolores might’ve grown used to Aethus’ zoning out in the morning, but that didn’t stop her from snapping him out of his stupor every so often.

Curiosity spiked, he responded, “What may that news be?”

“Well, the good news is that I should be home around the same time as you today.” She intentionally stopped after that, as she knew that it would bother Aethus to no end.

“...and the bad news?”, Aethus responded, getting ever more curious. He had a feeling that he knew what was coming and his tail started swishing slightly.

“Oh, such horrible news! The most terrible news!”, she exclaimed with an underlying mocking to her voice and he heard it. She found it very enjoyable to toy with him a bit, as his tail would swish ever so slightly faster.

“Lori, what is this so called ‘bad’ news?”, he said, a slight smile creeping onto his muzzle as well.

“Well, you’ll have to live with spending an _entire evening_ with me! An entire evening with just the two of us and a nice dinner!”

“Oh no!”, Aethus exclaimed, in a similar manner as she had before, as he got up and put one of his paws against his forehead for show. He then went to get his trench coat from the hangar and put it on, as well as making sure that he had his lab coat packed in his briefcase as well.

While there was plenty of room at work to leave his lab coat, he would always take it home. It was a bit of a prideful thing, but it also helped that his colleagues couldn’t play pranks on him as easily. The last time he left his coat at the lab, he came back to find the coat covered in a very small layer of finely ground black pepper. Being obligated to wear his lab coat at all time whilst in the lab, he was sneezing constantly for the duration of his work day.

Content that he had everything with him, he left his briefcase at the door and walked over to his wife-to-be and gave her a quick kiss as well as a hug. Whilst hugging her, he turned his head slightly and whispered in her ear.

“I guess that we’ll have to find a way to make it work then,” he said softly, as he extended one of his claws and ran it down the length of her spine, sending a shiver through her.

Slightly pushing him away so she could look him in the eyes, Dolores said, “Keep doing that and at this rate, you’ll have to call in sick to work, because you’ll be having some ‘bed rest’.”

“What a true shame that would be,” Aethus responded, before softly poking her nose and taking his leave.

Entering the apartment complex’ parking garage, he walked to his reserved parking spot. There, he was met with one of the few materialistic things that he treasured: His 2009 Tribumph Bunneville motorcycle. He seized any opportunity to ride it and he would often drive along extensive country roads to escape the city’s rush, enjoying the feeling of the wind and the bassy humming of the engine.

So, like every other day, he rode his motorcycle to work, with the difference being that he would wear a helmet whilst in the city. As much as he wasn’t a fan of wearing a helmet, it did have the advantage of muffling all the city’s noise around him somewhat. The avoiding of a fine was merely a convenient side effect.

After a 25-minute journey, he arrived at the lab and parked his bike out front. The building itself wasn’t anything too fancy. While the lab had its own building, it could be missed easily, as the outside looked like any of the omnipresent office buildings, albeit a fair bit shorter.

Entering the building, he opened his briefcase to get his ID-card, but he was stopped by a wallaby.

“What do you think you’re doing, _fox_?”, the last word spat out like it was a vile substance.

“Going to work. How about you?”

“I’m already doing my job and that’s to keep shady characters out of this building. That and to keep foreigners from wandering through the building. I don’t think that you are supposed to be here, so go skulk around somewhere else.” The wallaby tried to put on a ‘tough guy’-act, but was failing miserably.

“So, your job is to keep foreigners out, and yet, here you are.”

The wallaby’s eyes widened, before he doubled over in a laughing fit. After he had managed to get a hold of himself, he responded, “Good to see that your wits have yet to escape you, Aethus.”

“So easily amused, just like always,” the more critical part of Aethus thought to himself, but that thought was silenced as soon as it came into existence. Now smiling as well, he responded, “So, Ben, how’s the shift been thus far?”

“Quiet, as usual. It’s still beyond me why this building needs a guarded checkpoint like this. I’ve yet to encounter any mammal that tries to forcefully enter. It’s more of a glorified pre-reception, if you ask me.”

“Beats me. Rather safe than sorry, I suppose, but I can’t say that I’m disagreeing with you. Anyways, let me get my card,” Aethus said whilst fumbling with his briefcase.

“Don’t worry; you’re good,” Ben said, unlocking the small gate and allowing Aethus to pass through.

“Aw, thanks, hun,” Aethus said with a touch of sass as he walked through, before continuing, “How about I drop by for lunch?”

“Sure, I’ll see you in about three hours then.”

“Alright. I’ll see you when I do,” Aethus said as he continued down the hall and went to enter his office. Before he could so however, he stopped to stare at a little brass coloured, metal plaque that had been taped to the office’s door. It looked like whoever had done it had been in a rush, as the tape was ever so slowly peeling off and was bound to let go soon. The plaque read ‘A.M.P.’, and Aethus wondered what the occasion was.

When he first started working at the lab, he became known for his attentiveness and the passion he had for his work within no time. If asked for his assistance through the lab’s intercom, he would always appear seconds after whoever had asked could even finish their broadcast.

Like Aethus, Amalea had a similar attitude towards work, but in a different field, as she was more invested in the paperwork. She, just like Aethus, would do anything that was asked of her on a very short notice.

When people had realised that both of them shared an office, the nickname followed soon after: ‘A Minute Please’ or ‘A.M.P.’ for short, the latter working especially well, considering their energetic attitudes. Why the nickname? Both of them would be with whoever needed them in less than a minute of being called. Aethus would help with the more practical problems, whilst Amalea’d help on an administrative level.

Though, there was another factor that actually made the joke quite useful. None bats an eye if anyone asked for ‘a minute, please’, as anyone would just assume that the mammal was excusing themselves. This worked perfectly when potential investors came to visit the lab, as to inspect what they would be investing in. If a lab employee was touring the investors and didn’t know something or wasn’t sure about something, they’d always radio either of the so-called ‘A.M.P.’-duo with that very phrase and one of the two would always arrive on cue.

Taking the plaque and tape off the door, he took it with him as he entered his office. He walked to his desk and laid the plaque on his desk. He’d put it back up in a minute and this time, he’d secure it to the door properly. Slightly chuckling at his unintentional wordplay, he set his briefcase down and put his coat on one of the hangars. He opened his briefcase and got himself dressed by putting his lab coat on and pinning his ID-card to his chest.

His office, just like the building, wasn’t anything too special either, but it had its flair. A desk, a computer and some place to store his paperwork, as well as his other stuff. The other side of his shared office was where the flair came from. It came from his third favourite vixen; his favourite being his mother and the second favourite being his fiancée. 

Technically speaking, this Chilean zorro was his boss, in that she was one position above him and one position below the actual boss of the lab, but everyone knew her as a ball of energy and ever curious. Aethus had shared an office with Amalea since he started working at the lab and their little office was never quiet. Mostly due to Amalea, of course.

“Mornin’, Ames,” Aethus greeted, when he saw that she was already seated at her desk. “Always the eager one,” he thought to himself.

“ACK!”, Amalea exclaimed, being startled out her focussed state. She, just like Aethus, had a tendency to zone out, whether it was due to intense concentration or just boredom. She tried to appear nonchalant after collecting herself, in an attempt to save face, but they both knew that it was in vain.

Trying nonetheless, she jovially responded, “Mornin’, AC!” 

“Darwin, I know the fact that I’m a hybrid is cool and all, but you know that just ‘Aethus’ is plenty.” When Amalea had realised that Aethus’ full name could be abbreviated to ‘AC’, she always made it a point to refer to him as such at least once a day. That the actual air conditioning unit was broken only added insult to injury, though, the comment was never with malevolent intent.

The two foxes had filed multiple complains to MR about their office’s AC-unit being broken, however, they never seemed to get a response. Then again, both Aethus and Amalea, as well as most, if not all, of their co-workers, had a good idea as to why. 

The lab boss, an ocelot that only wanted to be referred to as ‘Boss’, had a very interesting way of dealing with his employees. Whenever someone asked him something, whether it’d be to order materials or to have something fixed, he’d get it done immediately. If it were for Aethus or Amalea however, whether it was them asking him directly or someone asking it for them, it would often take months to get it done, if at all. Considering that, while annoying, the broken AC didn’t limit either of them in doing work, ‘Boss’ always said that he would ‘look into it’, but he never did. It wasn’t that MR was against them; ‘Boss’ would just throw the complaints away and because the only way to contact MR was through him, the complaints never came through.

Sadly, neither Aethus nor Amalea had enough proof to put together something substantial and to mail that to MR directly, which would be against protocol to begin with, so they just had to deal with it. The other employees offered to help them as well, but Aethus always told them to avoid getting in the crossfire, so they did.

“...and you know that I hate being referred to as ‘Darwin’. It always gives me this weird feeling on the back of my head, like someone hit me with something,” Amalea continued, as if Aethus’ line had been left unfinished. It wasn’t that she hated her surname, rather, she hated that it sounded so formal.

“You know you love it,” Aethus joked.

Pouting in an attempt to gain sympathy, but the smile she was wearing betraying her, she said, “Might have to inform ‘Boss’ about the way you treat me. Perhaps he’ll help me.”

Now both smiling, Aethus replied, “Yeah, as if. It’d be the first time that he would actually do something for either of us.” A snide remark, but it couldn't have been more true. They continued their bantering while Aethus was getting himself settled and booted up his computer.

“Anyways, I’m going to presume that you saw the plaque on the door as well?”, Aethus continued, holding up the plaque for Amalea to see.

“Oh, that little thing. Quite sweet of them, wouldn’t you say?”

“I mean, sure, but I can’t fathom what the occasion is,” Aethus said, staring a hole into the wall behind Amalea whilst he was trying to figure out what it was.

“Aethus, you do know what today’s date is, don’t you?” Amalea was genuinely curious if Aethus had forgotten the current date.

Now feeling slightly guilty for forgetting, he sheepishly answered, “Yes...?”

Nothing but silence followed. Silence that was slowly replaced by a soft chuckling, which morphed into hearty laughter shortly after. This laughter, of course, came from Amalea, leaving Aethus befuddled and even more at a loss for words.

After having calmed down a bit, Amalea finally answered his unasked question, “Today marks the day that you first started working here and that we started sharing an office, effectively becoming the A.M.P.-duo.”

Now, it was Aethus turn to be silent. This silence, however, wasn’t interrupted by sincere laughter this time. Rather, all that could be heard with Aethus’ silent curse. “Mierda.”

“Aww, did our little AC forget?”, Amalea cooed.

“First of all, ‘Aethus’, not ‘AC’. Secondly, I’m the oldest out of the two of us and thirdly; shush,” Aethus responded, awkwardly covering his eyes with his paws.

“I’ll be sure to properly secure the plaque to the door later,” Amalea chimed in, content with having a flustered Aethus.

“Now, what’s today’s to-do-list?”, Aethus inquired, hoping to change the topic.

Amalea knew that he was just trying to save face like she had before. She decided to be merciful and she let him have it. “Nothing major: We should be able to finish the tests on the new alloy and after that, we’ll just continue with testing whether or not another new creme from the beauty world is safe for all skin types.”

“I’ll never understand the ‘beauty’ world: You look like some kind of 16th century noblemammal for an hour whilst wearing one of those masks, after which you take the stuff off to have smooth skin for a day or two and most of our skin is covered by fur anyway, so what’s the point to begin with? Either way, you then rinse and repeat until whatever container the stuff’s stored in is empty and pay generously for a new one, while the company’s already designing a new product to advertise and make you feel horrible and ugly for not buying it. That all combined is hardly something that I’d consider ‘beauty’.”

“Cynical as always, but, like always, I can’t really disagree with ya,” Amalea responded. Truthfully, she wholeheartedly agreed with him, but she’d never voice it. Not at work anyways, in fear of what would happen if a client were to overhear them. 

She continued, “It pays the bills though. We have to do this type of stuff, so we can have the money for actual research.”

“Yeah, I know, but I still.”

“Yup, though, to quickly loop back: I’ve actually bought and tried one of those cremes. Trust me when I say that the results were mediocre at best.”

Surprised by this revelation, Aethus responded, “What do _you_ need cream for?”, sounding slightly flirty. 

“How scandalous! Flirting with a co-worker whilst engaged?”, Amalea jokingly responded, adding a bit of dramatic flair to her voice.

Now going full-on theatrical, Aethus exclaimed, “Oh no! You have found me out! I’ve always loved you instead of her! I was just too afraid to admit it!”. He finished his preaching by lifting his paw up to his forehead as a faux act of desperation. 

Neither of them had noticed that, during their theatrics, one of their co-workers, a hyena named Tom, had opened the door and had entered their office, who was now doubling over in laughter. 

Seeing that Amalea had quickly become very embarrassed after realising that someone had entered, Aethus quickly responded, “What? Can’t two colleagues have a little fun?”

Still laughing, the hyena responded, “I’d say ‘get a room’, but considering that you’re already in one: Should I give the couple ‘a minute’?”

“I think that we’re sufficiently amped up, thanks,” Aethus responded, not noticing that Amalea had gotten up from her chair and was walking towards him. Soon after, he received a playful jab in his side. Before he had the chance to react, Amalea responded, “You and your stupid puns,” while still chuckling and now leaning against Aethus.

Seeing the opportunity to get her back, Aethus quickly poked her in the side, getting a similar startled reaction as he had earlier. After giving him something that was a mix between a smile and a glare, Amalea leaned against him again.

“As long as the ‘fun’ stays within working etiquette, sure,” the hyena responded with a sarcastic smile resting on his muzzle, as he was completely forgotten by the two foxes.

Now both slightly embarrassed, Aethus tried to salvage what was left of their professionalism and said, “No shame in two _friends_ having a bit of fun, right?”, putting emphasis on his relationship with Amalea.

Amalea rapidly responded, “Yup. Just friends being _friends_ ,” with the same emphasis on the last word, but with a slight voice crack accompanying it as well.

Noticing the voice crack, Aethus looked down to meet Amalea’s eyes and asked, “Are you alright? Need a glass of water or something like that?”

“Nope, I’m perfectly peachy,” Amalea quickly said, looking away immediately afterwards.

Aethus blamed her odd reaction on her still being embarrassed from before, so he thought nothing of it. He continued, now talking to the hyena, “Anyways... What can we help you with or what are we needed for?” 

“Just you, Aethus, and it’s not really ‘needed’ per se, rather, we’d just like to start.” 

Looking at the clock and realising that he’d stayed in his office for half an hour, Aethus hastily went to grab his coat, saying, “I’m so sorry. I completely lost track of time,” with Aethus now being genuinely embarrassed. While he didn’t mind being ‘caught’ joking around, he did take his job as the senior chemist seriously and he always wanted to avoid people having to wait for him. The hyena shrugged, and left for the lab; he knew that Aethus hadn’t intended to keep him waiting.

In his hurry to attend to his other colleague, he had completely forgotten about Amalea, who was still leaning against him. Added that she had become entranced by something Aethus failed to see, Amalea found herself falling to the floor as her support was suddenly no longer there. She hit the floor with an audible “OOF”. 

Aethus heard her fall and turned around to help her up, whilst profusely apologising in the process. After helping her up and making sure that she was okay, he went for the door, whilst still in the process of putting his lab coat on. Backpedalling to the door, he uttered a final apology, but doing so caused him to run into the door frame and awkwardly stumble. He let out a quiet curse, before rounding the corner and disappearing from Amalea’s sight.

“He’s cute when he’s so flustered and clumsy,” she said to herself, whilst a sigh escaped her.


	3. A fiery home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again with a new chapter of "The Mask We Wear"
> 
> I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, but real life waits for none, which is what has been keeping me fairly occupied.
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope that you enjoy the chapter and I also hope that the next chapter will be out sooner :D .

Making his way to the lab, Aethus had finally managed to put his lab coat on, as well as recover from the awkwardness of the office. He laughed it off as if it was an uncommon occurrence, but quite frankly, he’d rather not admit how many times he had walked into the doorframe whilst talking to Amalea.

Once there, he started his workday by making his way to the very hyena that had rudely but rightfully interrupted his conversation with Amalea.

Arriving at the lab section, he met up with Tom. “So, what do you wish to do first?”

“Well, let’s just get the commercial case out of the way. That way, we can have more fun with the new alloy.”

“You’ve read my mind, Tom,” Aethus responded jovially.

Both of them decided to go and get the skin samples first, so they set off to the lab’s cold storage. This would take a good five minutes, so Tom decided to strike up a conversation.

“So, Aethus, you’re dating, right?”

“Yes, I’m a taken mammal; sorry about that,” Aethus said, adding a wink in a way of mock flirtation.

“Har, har, funny guy. Not what I was going for, but thanks.”

“Yeah, I know. You reek of your partner and I’m not talking about your lab partner,” Aethus said smugly, whilst nudging Tom.

Tom’s scent changed slightly and he folded his ears back in embarrassment. “It’s not _that_ bad, is it?”

“Tom, look at me,” Aethus said, gesturing at himself before continuing, “Canid. Strong sense of smell. Only canids will be able to pick up a smell that subtle.”

“Right. Forgot about that fact,” Tom said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

“No problem at all, Tomster. Now, for your follow-up question.”

“Ah, yes, my bad: So, I wanted to know if you were engaged?”

“Yes… What makes you ask that?”

“Well, you do have a mark…”

It was Aethus’ turn to fold his ears back in embarrassment. “Is it that obvious?”

“Aethus, I may not be a canid, but I still have a working nose.”

“I’ll be sure to get some scent neutralizer during the break.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s not bothering anyone, trust me.”

Seeing that they were close to the cold storage, Aethus gladly took to changing the subject.

“So, what skin types do we need?”

“Well, it’s a product that’s meant for elephants, so we’ll need to test it on skin of every mammal that has fur.”

“And I’m the funny guy?”, Aethus jokingly said.

“Yup.”

Arriving at the cold storage, they took 2 trolleys and loaded them with petri dishes that were sized for larger mammals. After all, they needed to test on elephant skin, so they’d need reasonably big patches of it.

They put their gloves on and started cutting the skin samples into squares that would fit the petri dishes. 

Everything now loaded onto the trolleys, Aethus and Tom started their trek back to their workspace, where they would get going with the tests.

There was only a short moment of silence, before Tom decided to get back to what he wanted to ask.

“So, before we trailed off, I still wanted to ask you something, especially with the confirmation of the rumour that you’re engaged.”

“I presume that you’re wanting to know when the wedding will be?”

“Yeah, I’d like to be there. I’m curious who managed to put up with your hijinks, or, more importantly, who _willingly_ chose to put up with your hijinks,” Tom said, nudging Aethus with his paw.

“Aww, so you do care. That’s sweet of you,” Aethus jibed.

“Most of the lab does. We want to see who is going to be the newest addition to the A.M.P.-duo’s tomfoolery.”

“Well, while we don’t have everything planned yet, we do intend to have it happen within the next month or so.”

“Be sure to let us know beforehand, so we can be sure to free up some space. I’m not the only one that wants to come.”

“Yeah, I know. We had a feeling that we’d get a sizable audience from the lab, so we’re still looking for a decent venue. That’s one of the main reasons that we don’t have a date yet.”

“How many do you think will show up?”

“Well, let’s assume a dozen or so mammals from the lab, then Lori’s bringing a couple of co-workers, as well as some of her other friends. That leaves her parents and my mother. So, let’s say about thirty mammals.”

“Not a big crowd, is it?”

“Nope. I’ve never been someone of big crowds, and besides: As long as the important mammals are there, then I’m happy.” As Aethus was talking, a small smile settled on his muzzle, and it could only be described as ‘lovesick’.

Tom surely noticed. “Aww. Is little Aethus feewing a bwit head over heels?”, he teased.

Nothing but an embarrassed “Oh hush” was the response he got.

They both laughed it off and they continued their idle chat until they got back to their workspace.

“So, who’s going to do what?”, Tom wondered.

“I’ll get the agar started for the tissue culture. You start with laying out each of the donors’ skin patches into sets of two, whilst making sure that each set only contains patches of the same donor…”, Aethus was saying, before being interrupted.

“...then label all the petri dishes and colorcode them to distinguish which patches have had cream applied,” Tom finished.

Pleased with the hyena’s confidence, Aethus inquired, “And what will we be testing?”

“We’ll be testing how well the cream prevents ultraviolet penetration and the cream’s moisturizing abilities. Elephant’s skin, while thick and rough, is known to be very sensitive, therefore, it always needs to be protected from ultraviolet light. The skin also loses moisture easily, so it’s important to keep the skin hydrated.”

“Look at you, junior encyclopedia. You’ll make a good laborant yet,” Aethus teased.Truthfully, Aethus was impressed. Tom had only been working in the lab for a few months, but he had already shown great potential and his ability to work with other mammals, as well as his knowledgeability made him a good partner and a very competent lab worker.

“Yeah, yeah, just go prepare the agar, Mr. Joke-a-lot.”

“Alright, let’s get to work then.”

It looked like it was going to be a boring day. Aethus combined all of the nutrient agar’s ingredients in one big 5 liter boiling pot, making sure to neutralize the pH after adding all ingredients. He then set it on the heat, prepared a one-minute timer and set the mixture to boil. Whilst waiting for the mixture to start boiling, he went to help lay out and mark all the petri dishes that would be receiving a layer of agar soon. The agar mixture started boiling and after a minute, Aethus and Tom were pouring the agar in awaiting, empty petri dishes. After finishing, they put it in the airflow unit, which would slowly cool the agar over time.

“That’s about 200 filled petri dishes. Why did you make as much nutrient agar as you did? We only need 50 petri dishes of them.”

“If we need more, we can just grab it and there’s a good chance that other mammals’ll need them too. We’ll wait for them all to cool down and harden, then we’ll take the 50 that we need and store all the others in a date-marked container. Agar is used on an almost daily basis here, so it won’t hurt.”

“I suppose that does make sense.”

“Of course; it’s why I’m the senior chemist here,” Aethus said with a joking voice.

“Very funny, old guy.” Tom jibed back.

“I’m not ‘old’; I’m only in my 30s.”

“Right, right; and I’m a massive lion.”

“I am in my 30s, thank you very much.”

“Yes, but you’re still old,” Tom said, nudging Aethus to show there was no malicious intent.

A sparkle showed in Aethus’ eyes as he spoke. “I may be ‘old’, but I can still do this!”, he said, after which he got Tom in a quick headlock and gave him a good noogie.

“Ack, I yield!”

With a smug grin on his muzzle, Aethus let him go. To his surprise, Tom immediately spun around and returned the noogie. 

“Oi! You said that you yielded!”

Letting Aethus go, Tom said, “What can I say? Hyenas are scoundrels, after all.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Aethus said whilst chuckling.

“What’s that about?”

Feigning innocence, Aethus replied, “What’s what about?”

“Oh, you know what I’m talking about. That weird and almost brooding chuckling.”

“Oh, it’s nothing really. Though, you may want to look behind you.”

Confused, Tom obliged and turned around. Seeing nothing, he turned back to face Aethus, but felt something hitting him and that same thing was now covering his eyes. He realised that it was a bucket and the first thing that came to mind was “Really, Aethus? Really?”, whist laughing it off. He lifted it off his head, but not before the sound of a phone taking a picture could be heard.

Tom put the bucket on the ground and looked to where Aethus had been standing, realising that Aethus had taken a photo. He also realised that Aethus had someone else’s phone in his paws and was doing something with it, a cheeky smile showing present on his muzzle.

“Who’s phone is that?”

“Yours.”

Tom’s eyes shot open in alarm and he checked his pockets, finding that his phone was indeed missing.

“What are you doing with my phone?”

“Nothing in the slightest,” Aethus said playfully, his grin growing in size.

“Give me that,” Tom said, yanking the phone out of Aethus’ hands to see what he had done to it. The first thing he noticed was the rather risqué background of a female hyena that his phone now had. He also saw that he had a few new text messages from his love interest, which made him very nervous to find out what Aethus may have sent. He opened the chat and saw about a dozen messages going back and forth between his phone and his love. Those messages were about Tom’s alleged ‘horrible’ accident, followed by the picture that was just taken and some laughs afterwards.

Tom looked at Aethus with an expression that was both relieved and embarrassed.

“What can I say? Foxes are sly, after all.” After a short pause, he continued, “Though, I must say that you have definitely had some ‘interesting’ conversations in the past.”

What was a mixed expression before, now turned into one of complete embarrassment.  
“I really hate you,” Tom said, his words stained by his flustered demeanor, but an amused smile also showing.

“And I love you too,” Aethus said jokingly, as he walked past Tom, gave him a pat on the back and he exited the workspace to have his lunch.

The remainder of the day was nothing noteworthy. Aethus had his lunch with Ben, where the topic of Aethus’ engagement was also discussed, amongst some other smalltalk.

After his break, Aethus went back to the workspace to find that Tom had recovered from his embarrassment and they continued with preparing the skin. Tom told Aethus that he would keep a very close eye on his phone from now on, to which Aethus could only laugh. After they finished preparing the skin, they lathered half of the skin samples with the cream and put all of the samples in the same controlled environment. Now, they’d have to let the skin lay for a day or three, so they could observe the effects of the cream and how effective the cream was.

They then went to continue reviewing the tests that were done with the new alloy. If these tests turned out to have good results, they could’ve found a cheaper alternative for the metal bars used to strengthen broken bones, without lessening the strength and total weight capacity.

To his dismay, Aethus had to abandon the testing, because a new group of investors had just arrived in the building and he needed to give them a tour of the facility. Amongst the investors, there was a lioness that had brought her cub along and this young lion had a genuine interest in what was going on. While Aethus did greatly appreciate the interest and he did find joy in explaining all of the questions, it did tire him out quite a bit. 

The investors were then passed onto Amalea, who took them into a board meeting to go over the financing side of the business and Aethus was tasked with watching over the cub. He took the him to one of the smaller workspaces to show him all kinds of small experiments, much to the cub’s delight. When Aethus allowed the cub to take part in the last experiment, he had to pin his ears back to lessen the impact of the happy squeal.

From time to time, to promote pursuing a career in science, schools would visit the lab and also get a small tour. The small workspace that Aethus took the cub to was always a part of that tour and he would usually set up a couple of harmless experiments that he could easily supervise and the kits would have a blast. Since this wasn’t a tour and he only had to watch one kit, he showed him some things that he probably shouldn’t have, but he always made sure that it never would or could harm the cub. He also showed him one thing that he would always show the other kits, and while simple, it would always have them in awe. 

He would get a piece of aluminium foil, scrunch it up into a small ball and he would put that in a small beaker. He would then add an acid to the beaker and stir it a bit. The reaction that ensued would always amaze the kits, but he always found it difficult to have every kit be able to see it, whilst keeping them at a safe distance. Because there was only one kit now, he lifted the cub onto his shoulders and positioned him behind his head, in a way that the cub could look over but never get too close. Aethus held up the beaker for the cub to see and he could feel the cub grabbing both of his ears in excitement. 

The investors came out of their board meeting and all but the lioness were escorted to the exit by one of the other employees. Amalea was the one to escort the lioness back to Aethus and her cub and found Aethus playing with the cub, letting the cub sit on his shoulders and keeping him entertained. Aethus saw the two walk down the hall and started walking towards him. Upon seeing his mother, the cub started protesting, so Aethus put him down on the floor and the cub took off towards his mother. The lioness thanked Aethus and they walked her to the exit. 

“I never knew that you were good with kits, Aethus,” Amalea spoke as she walked to Aethus and stood next to him.

“What? You thought that I was only there during the tours to supervise the experiments?”, he said, looking over to her and putting his paws in his pockets.

“I suppose, yeah. You’ve proven me wrong though, I’ll admit.”

“Victorious once again,” Aethus said, pumping a fist in the air as a joke.

“Funny,” Amalea said, trying to sound unamused.

“Anyways, I’d best be off. I could say that I wouldn’t want to keep the missus waiting, but I’d be lying, because I’m just dead tired.”

“Yeah, I should probably head home too. Board meetings aren’t exactly captivating, so I’m a fair bit drowsy as well.”

“Shall you give me the pleasure of accompanying me on my walk to our office?”

“Sure, _Shakesbeare_ ; I shall.”

“Truly marvelous, my dear.”

“Oh hush.”

They walked back into the building and grabbed their stuff from their shared office. They walked back to the entrance and said their goodbyes for the day.

Aethus got on his bike and put his briefcase in one of the bags that his bike had on either side. He started up the engine and drove off, but not before waving to Amalea one last time as he drove past her, whilst she was getting in her car.  
Thirty minutes later, Aethus opened the door to his apartment and he let himself collapse face first on the couch.

“I. Hate. Rush hour,” he said to no one in particular.

“Agreed,” came an unexpected response.

Aethus rolled around to now lay on his back and he saw Dolores standing in the doorway.

“Huh, I did not realise that you were there. Whoops.”

“I wasn’t here when you walked in. I just decided to take the elevator for once, so I arrived on this floor a few seconds after you did.”

“Fair enough, I suppose.”

“Now,” Dolores said, walking to the couch before continuing, “what are you doing?”

“I’m quite comfortable, if I’m honest. Today was one of those days.”

“Bad day?”

“No, just tiring. Had to watch someone’s cub for an hour or so.”

A bit surprised as to why that was the case, Dolores inquired, “Why did you have to watch a kit?”

“Investors popped in and one of them had a cub with her, so I saved the cub from having to be quiet during a board meeting.”

“I see. Was he well-behaved?”

“Oh, there was nothing wrong with the kit: He was just very curious about everything, so he was asking a billion questions. He couldn’t talk that much yet, so it was mostly pointing, and while I don’t mind, it does tire me out.”

Whilst climbing onto the couch and sitting on top of Aethus, Dolores said, “Is that so?” 

“I’m afraid so,” Aethus responded.

Dolores let herself collapse on Aethus and said, “Good, because I’m not in any condition to do anything either.”

“Easy meal and a film?”

“Definitely. I’ll go change into something more comfortable.”

“Alright, I’ll get the fryer going. However, there’s one problem.”

“What’s that?”

“I have this vivacious, vigorous vixen that’s laying on top of me; I’m not sure that I want to get up,” Aethus replied.

“Well, she better get off then, because she would love something to eat.”

“I guess that I’m going to have to delay the fryer.” Aethus grabbed Dolores and he rolled over in a way that she was now pinned below him. He was grinning ear to ear.

“Aethus, what are yo…”, was all that she managed to say before Aethus started tickling her.

Barking laughter, she tried to get Aethus off of her and she succeeded. She rolled him and herself off the couch and pinned him, before starting her own assault on him.

“That’ll teach you,” she said victoriously. Before Aethus could come up with a clever response, she continued, “And now, to take my prize,” giving him a passionate kiss on the lips. Aethus deepened the kiss, but she pulled away shortly after, eliciting a whine from Aethus.

“Don’t worry, Aethus; I may still be hungry after dinner,” Dolores said coyly.

“Is that so? Well, then I suppose that I should get the fryer started.”

“What about that ‘vivacious, vigorous vixen’?”

“I’m not sure; I think she went to get comfortable,” Aethus replied, smirking.

A small giggle could be heard and Dolores got off of Aethus, helping him up afterwards.

He watched her walk to the bedroom, ogling her, but trying to appear innocent. She must’ve noticed, because her hips made a sudden sway, that was alluring to say the least.

Aethus went to the kitchen and got the fryer running. It was an old, secondhand thing, but it got the job done. He took the fries out of the freezer and left them to defrost. Once the fryer was fired up, he put the fries in and enjoyed the sizzling sound.

He turned his sound system on and set a soft tune to play as a bit of background music. After a while, Dolores came out of the bedroom, wearing a loose shirt and some sweatpants and she was covered by her bathrobe. Sneaking up on Aethus, she stood behind him, crossed her arms and used them to lean against his back. They stood like this for a bit, until Aethus turned around to get changed too, but not before letting his paw roam Dolores’ back, making sure to extend a claw and slide it down her spine, earning a satisfied sigh and a seductive look.

He entered their bedroom and lazily started unbuttoning his blouse. Slowly letting it slide off his arms, he laid it on the bed. As he removed his belt, his pants still on, his eye caught a glimpse of Dolores’ neatly folded clothes. He decided to fold his blouse and found himself lost in thought as he was doing so. 

“A little bit short of a month and I’ll have her as my official mate.” The thought made him feel giddy, a wave of warmth spreading through his entire body. By mammal standards, they were already mates, but they never had an official ceremony. Neither were a big fan of it, but after some encouragement from friends and colleagues, they decided to do it anyways. So, a month or so from now, they’d have the ceremony and all would be perfect. He had a job that he loved, he had a couple of friends, one best friend, and his mate.

“Life’s not so bad,” Aethus thought aloud.

He was awoken from his stupor by something that he had heard before; Dolores’ scream. This time though, it wasn’t one of happiness or pleasure; it was one of fear. Mind immediately switched on, he bolted out of the room, ready to protect his mate from whatever scared her.

Running to the source of her scream, he entered the kitchen and surveyed the kitchen. It’s amazing what can happen in mere seconds. Aethus saw that the oil in the fryer had caught fire. Figuring that the fire had probably scared Dolores, he assumed that she went to get a towel of some kind, so the fire could be covered and extinguished as a result. He looked over to where the towels normally were, but didn’t see her, so he looked to the other side of the kitchen. He saw that Dolores had filled a large bowl with water and was in the process of dumping it on the burning oil. As she had turned the bowl upside down to empty its contents onto the flames, Aethus bolted to her and pushed her out of harm’s way. 

Sadly, the water was already falling, so he could do nothing but watch and explain to himself what was about to happen. The water would make contact with the burning oil and sink below the oil due to the oil having a lower density than water. However, due to the high temperature of the oil, the water would start to boil and evaporate immediately, so the water would sink, but expand rapidly, exploding the burning oil outwards. In turn, this would cause all the smaller bits of oil to catch fire quicker, making for a fiery aftermath.

Being pushed to the side, Dolores quickly looked back over to where Aethus was now standing and watched in horror, as she saw this very reaction happen. Flaming oil went everywhere and covered Aethus’ front, both his face and chest. Because of where Aethus had pushed her to, she could now see the small fire extinguisher that they had mounted next to the front door. Running over to it, tears in her eyes and guilt already filling her for forgetting about it at first, she got the fire extinguisher and extinguished every bit of flaming oil that covered Aethus. She went to help Aethus, but he had other ideas.

“Stop… fire… spreading...”, he said hoarsely, trying to speak clearly, but the pain making it impossible.

Dolores did as instructed, making sure that every bit of oil was no longer ablaze, before calling an ambulance for Aethus.

As Aethus was on the ground, suffering and moaning in agony, she grabbed a towel and soaked it in lukewarm water, before covering Aethus’ upper body with it.

As the phone was connecting her to the emergency dispatcher, she softly spoke, now with a sad smile showing and a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be there with you, okay?”


	4. Three fearful vixens

Pain. Silence. A moment of clarity and weirdly enough, serenity.

The rush of adrenaline numbing his senses, but pain spiking through. An immense heat, sending waves through his body. An earthquake of impulses making his body shake. Losing feeling in the legs, the upper body’s onslaught of suffering overpowering everything. Falling to the ground.

“Have I been successful?” He hoped, no, he begged that he had been.

A scream. Not one of pain; one of fear.

Good. She was safe.

Senses slowly coming back to him. He could still smell fire. Something was burning. Burning fur. Burning flesh. That was to be expected, but something else as well.

Burning wood?

His third sense came back to him, but he saw nothing. He tried to open his eyes, but couldn’t as pain erupted the second he tried. 

He felt a soft wind rush past him towards the door and smelled her running past him. He felt a wave of cold rush over him as he smelled the fire extinguisher at work. The cold did help to subdue the feeling of heat, but the radiating pain made sure to minimize the relief. The continuous smell of burning wood made him worry. 

“Stop the fire from spreading first,” he tried to say. He couldn’t hear himself speak. He couldn’t feel anything but the pain. He wasn’t aware of anything but the smell.

He hoped that she had understood him. 

Subdued by the lack of new input, he just layed there. He didn’t realise that he was moaning. He felt something wet cover his torso. A piece of cloth that had been soaked. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but he felt the wave of relief was over him. The pain was still ever present, but slightly dampened.

Then, he smelled something else. A touch of salt. The slightly watered down scent of his mate. Had she been crying? The thought filled him with a feeling of guilt. She was crying for him, because he was hurt and he couldn’t comfort her. That’d be the first thing he’d do when he’d get the chance.

He heard her speak. She spoke softly and he barely heard her.

“Whatever happens, I’ll be there with you, okay?”

The phrase filled him with gratitude.  
What did I do to deserve you?

Some time passed and he heard sirens. He was vaguely aware of the door to their apartment being opened. He didn’t feel the paramedics shift his weight. He felt weightless. He felt a bit of movement. He heard onlookers and felt the sunlight on his wounds. He was still again.

I’m sorry, Lori, but I’m tired. I’m just going to have a quick nap…

 

While not injured, Dolores wasn’t in a much better state either. She had heard the sirens of the approaching ambulance and had left the door ajar. The paramedics stormed in with a stroller and moved Aethus onto it. Aethus’ moaning had stopped. She hurried as she followed Aethus and the paramedics downstairs. 

“We need to stabilise him!”

She saw Aethus being hooked up to all types of screens and machines, as he was loaded into the ambulance. She thought about following the ambulance with her car, but decided against it.

Dolores couldn’t bear the thought and quickly hopped into the ambulance with the paramedics. She grasped Aethus’ left paw with both paws as the ambulance sped off, sirens screaming and lights alight.

The heart monitor started freaking out and the E.M.T. went to check on it.

“His paws are cold…”, she wondered to herself aloud and the E.M.T. had heard her. He opened one of Aethus’ eyes and shone his small flashlight into it.

The E.M.T. realised what was happening and shouted, “Shit, he’s going into shock! Driver, step on it!”

Needless to say, Dolores wasn’t very calm after that.

They arrived at the hospital a few minutes later and Aethus was rushed to the I.C.U. Dolores wanted to follow, but was stopped by one of the doctors on standby. 

“Let me through! He’s my mate!”

“I’m sorry, miss, but I can’t let you through. They need to stabilise him and that’ll require their full attention.”

Seeing how the distressed vixen seemed to barely be able to hold herself up, the doctor decided that it’d be best to sit her down.

“How about we go sit in the waiting room?”

At this point, the doctor realised that she was going to have to try and coach the vixen to the waiting room, because the vixen had turned into a bawling mess. She helped the vixen get up and guided her to one of the waiting room’s awaiting chairs. 

“Can I get you something?”

No response.

“Alright, one of those,” the doctor thought to herself.

They both sat there for a few minutes before Dolores spoke up.

“What’s your name?”

“Officially, it’s ‘Dr. Jones’,” the doctor said, earning a light chuckle from Dolores before continuing, “I prefer to just be called ‘Lisa’ though.”

“Alright, _Lisa_ ; duly noted. I’m Dolores,” Dolores said, before saying, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Just sitting down with me; you didn’t have to.”

“Well, I thought that I might see if I could get my patient’s mate’s mind off of things.”

“Wait, what? How do you know that Aethus will be your patient?”

“I’m currently the hospital’s only dermatologist.” This made Dolores tilt her head.

Snickering at the open display of confusion, Lisa explained, “We used to have three on-staff, but one retired a week ago, whilst the other one is on sick leave and, ironically enough, recovering from a skin infection.” 

She saw that Dolores opened her mouth to say something. “Before you say anything: Yes, I am aware that management could’ve done a better job.” This prompted Dolores to shut her mouth again.

“Either way, he’ll be my patient, so, while I don’t have to sit down with you, it doesn’t hurt to do so.”

“I suppose so…”, Dolores trailed off.

“Anyways… Is there anything that I should know about him, before I see him?”

“He isn’t a stranger to making bad jokes or puns, I guess?”

“Well, I’m su…”, Lisa started saying, before being interrupted.

“Wait a second: You don’t know if he’ll live th-through th-th-the…”, Dolores tried to say, before choking up again.

“I presume that you won’t be heading home or sleeping anytime soon, so I’ll go grab you a coffee. What d’you have in it?”

“A bit of milk, please,” was Dolores’ subdued response.

Lisa got up and walked to the coffee machine, making both of them a cup. She returned to Dolores and handed her a cup, which was gratefully taken.

“Want to talk about what happened?”

“...It’s all my fault…”

“And how’s that? Surely, you didn’t do it on purpose, seeing as how distraught you were?”

“NO! I mean… No, of course not...”

“Then, what did happen?”

Dolores went quiet for a bit. When she spoke up, it was more like a quiet whimper. “Well, we were both tired from work, so we decided to have an easy meal and to watch a film. He put the fryer on and I got some more comfortable clothes on, hence my current attire,” she said, gesturing to her pyjama and bathrobe. 

“I then tended to the fryer, so he could do the same, but soon after he left, the fryer caught fire for some reason. I went to get something to extinguish the flames, but in the moment, I had forgotten that you need to just cover the fire with a wet towel, so I just went to throw water on it. Aethus pushed me away from the reaction that ensued, and now, he’s- he’s-,” Dolores started muttering, unable to finish her sentence.

Wanting to avoid another outburst, Lisa said, “How about this: I don’t have any appointments anytime soon, and I was about to clock out soon anyways. I’ll clock out and I’ll take you home, so you can get changed. I’ll drive you back to hospital afterwards.”

“That’s such a hassle; you don’t have to…”

“I insist.”

Not feeling the energy to argue, Dolores reluctantly agreed.

While Lisa did intend on helping the vixen get cleaned up, she had another reason to drive her home; it would distract the vixen from the situation and be a good way to calm her down a bit.

“I’ll park the car outfront, then I’ll come pick you up, alright?”

A nod was that she got, so she went to get her car from the staff’s parking area. 

A few minutes later, she re-entered the waiting room to pick up the vixen and she walked her to the car. While the raccoon-sized car was a tad bit small for the vixen, she managed to fit in. The drive was a quiet one, until they arrived at the apartment complex.

They parked up and Lisa followed Dolores into the building. She followed her up to the apartment and saw the door that had been left wide open. Lisa also smelled a tinge of smoke that remained.

Dolores collapsed. She fell to her knees and hunched over. She cried. She felt guilt. Overwhelming guilt.

_It’s all your fault. Look what you’ve done. You burned him alive._

The thoughts felt strange to her, but she was in no mood to fight them.

_He hates you. You have ruined everything. Is that what a fiancée does? Burn their husband? Their **mate**?_

By this time, Lisa had knelt down beside Dolores and had put a comforting paw on her shoulder.

“Screw professionalism,” she thought to herself, as she helped Dolores up a bit and moved her to the couch. After leaving her on the couch, Lisa made them both some hot chocolate.

The sobbing eased slightly as Dolores took hold of her mug. She took a couple of sips.

“Don’t feel forced to stay, please.”

Lisa was surprised by the comment, so she responded, “I’m staying for you and not because I feel like I have to. If you want me to leave, then I will.”

“Why?”

“Why not? It’s my job to help people, after all.”

No response after that. Both of them just sat quietly and listened to the soft, muffled ticking of a clock mounted above the door.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Tick-tock.

Some time passed and Lisa noticed that Dolores had set her cup down on the coffee table in front of the couch and that she had decided to lie down. She shut her eyes and soon, all that remained of the vixen was her steady breathing.

Lisa decided to help the vixen out by cleaning the apartment a bit. She gathered the now empty cups and put them away, as well as getting a broom to sweep up the remaining ashes. She also put the fryer and the remaining oil in a trash bag, then used a wet towel to clean some of the darker stained spots where the fire had been. Whilst in the middle of cleaning the stained floor, the smell of burnt fur brushed past her nose and she thought to herself, “That’ll definitely be interesting, once he gets out of the I.C.U.” Finally, one of the apartment’s windows was left slightly ajar to allow the smell to somewhat dissipate. Lisa left a note on the coffee table, before leaving Dolores to herself. 

While sleep had come easily to Dolores, it hadn’t been peaceful. Her mind haunted her. It grabbed her, shaking her mercilessly. It all played on a continuous loop. That harrowing scream. His scream. Her mate’s scream. It echoed inside the empty void of her dreams. It pleaded to her. 

“Why, Dolores? Why did you do this to me?”

She tried to answer, but she couldn’t. She was unable to move. She couldn’t turn away from him. She saw flames. Flames that were slowly creeping up on him. She tried to warn him, but her voice all but died out in her throat. She could do nothing.

Soon, his tearfilled eyes became those of horror, as he was engulfed by flames. He screamed, cried, begged for her help. He was consumed by the fire. Slowly crumbling, until nothing but a pile of dirty, black ashes remained. 

The force holding Dolores back disappeared. It let her go, but she was too late. She had failed him. She had gotten him killed. She had watched in shock and done nothing. It was completely her fault.

She fell to the ground.  
She cried.  
She howled to mourn her loss.  
She couldn’t bring herself to move closer to the smoldering remains. 

When she looked up from where she lay, the pile was disappearing. The wind was taking it away. She rushed to the pile, but could only watch as the wind took more and more. 

When she got to the pile, all but a pawful remained. She reached down to carefully scoop it up. The last remains. She stared at her paws, straight into the blackness of the ash.

Something moved. The ashes morphed into a face. Aethus’ face. He looked at her, disbelief displayed on his muzzle. 

“Why, Dolores? Why did you do this to me?”

This time, it wasn’t pleading. It was an angry scream, laced with venom and disgust. 

Dolores could do nothing more than utter a guilt-ridden whisper.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as she started to choke up again.

The face turned away from her. The wind blew again, washing it away and out of Dolores’ desperate grasp.

It was dark all around her. It was completely silent. She was completely silent. She was alone.

She was woken up by a phone going off. She noticed the wet stains below her eyes; she had been crying.

She got up and answered the phone.

“Hello…?”

“Hey Dolores!”, Lisa cheerfully responded. Truthfully, she wasn’t happy. She had seen the extent of Aethus’ injuries and while it was nothing that wouldn’t heal, it would leave some scars and require a fair bit of therapy.

Lisa continued, “You’ll be happy to know that Aethus is no longer in the I.C.U. They have moved him to a room, so I thought that you might want to visit him.”

Dolores let out an audible, relieved sigh.

“That’s great to hear,” she tiredly responded. She was relieved to hear that Aethus was no longer in danger, but she was nervous about seeing him. The dreams were still haunting her.

“As you haven’t called, I’m hoping that you did manage to catch some sleep or…?” Lisa inquired.

Confused by Lisa’s question, Dolores looked towards the clock and saw that she had slept through most of the night, as it was already 7 A.M.

“How would I have called you though?”

“I left a small note on the coffee table with my number on it, just in case you needed anything.”

Dolores felt touched by the gesture. The doctor didn’t have any obligation towards her, and yet she had done so.

“Oh, yeah, I see it now. Anyways, I’ll take the bus to the hospital, so I’ll be there any minute now.”

“You could do that or I could pick you up.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, really.”

“I insist. Besides, you don’t live terribly far away and I have to pick up his mother as well.”

That surprised Dolores. “Wait, why’s that?”

“Well, you and his mother were both listed as emergency contacts and before you ask: Yes, I know that there technically is no such list here, as the accident didn’t happen at work…, but he did have a small piece of paper with his phone that stated it, so I went ahead and called his mother to inform her. I offered to do the same for her, because public transport can be grievous for the elderly. I could easily take a small detour and pick you up as well.”

“If you’re sure that it’s not an issue…”

“Of course! I’ll see you in 20 minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting outside,” Dolores said and she ended the call. She added the number on the note to her contacts and went to get dressed. She took a quick shower and put on a simple shirt and some sweatpants. 

While she did consider dressing nicely for Aethus’ mother, she figured that Sierra would probably prefer her to feel comfortable. Either that or the talks between her and Aethus’ mom had all been in jest. She remembered when she went to visit his mom for the third time and that Sierra had insisted that Dolores doesn’t dress up for her. She liked Dolores to be comfortable around her and told her that family shouldn’t have to look their best all the time.

She quickly grabbed an apple from the fridge, before putting her coat on and exiting their apartment to go and wait on the porch of their apartment complex. Once outside, she took to daydreaming and was soon zoned out completely. Flashes of her previous dream came back to her. They had her so entranced that she didn’t notice the car pulling up. That was, until Lisa honked. 

Dolores got inside the car and greeted both of the other occupants. She closed the door and sat in silence. It wasn’t until they arrived at the hospital that she looked up to see Sierra look at her with eyes that spoke volumes.

“Stop beating yourself up.”

“I wasn’t…”, Dolores had started to say, before Sierra silenced her. 

“Yes, you were and you shouldn’t. It was an accident. Nothing more and nothing less.” Sierra, despite her age, spoke with quite some power behind her voice.

Hearing the conviction in her mother-in-law’s words put Dolores slightly at ease. She had indeed been beating herself up and had been nervous to face Aethus’ mother. She feared that she would be blamed for the accident and the lingering feeling of guilt from her nightmare wasn’t helping. Hearing Sierra speak with such conviction had eased her doubts ever so slightly, but it was enough for them to stop crowding her mind.

Lisa dropped both of them off at the entrance and told them that she would meet them in Aethus’ room later, but that she had some other business to take care of first.

Dolores helped Sierra up the stairs, as the older vixen had some difficulty breathing. It wasn’t anything to worry about, but it did slow Sierra down, much to her own annoyance.

They walked into the main lobby and Dolores had Sierra sit down in one of the waiting room’s chairs, so she could find out where Aethus’ room was. Sierra begrudgingly gave in to her tiredness and sat down. She decided to observe the mammals around her. It was only a quarter to eight in the morning, so there weren’t many mammals present. Most of the mammals that she did see were hospital staff and she quickly grew bored. She then saw the sliding doors open and the familiar face that they revealed.

Amalea had received a phone call from Sierra in the evening before. When she had answered the phone, a distressed Sierra immediately began rambling. 

The two vixens had first met when Amalea tagged along with Aethus during one of his breaks. Aethus had always had a close bond with his mother and would often visit her. These visits only became more common when his mother started getting more tired. “I’m getting old,” she would always say. After the initial meeting, Amalea would often tag along during their shared lunch breaks and Sierra had grown fond of her.

Upon receiving the call, Amalea had felt a sharp, stinging pain in her chest, which she couldn’t quite place. However, she paid little mind to it, as she tried her best to console Aethus’ mother, telling her that her “niño” would be fine and trying to calm the elderly vixen down enough for her to be able to sleep. After having managed to do so, Amalea now had to convince the vixen that she didn’t mind her calling and that she’d see her tomorrow, before hanging up. 

Amalea had been a mess after that. She had been worrying all night, catching little to no sleep. She had called the lab early in the morning, as to inform them that she was taking a day off. The front desk had been very understanding and had filed Amalea’s absence as “ill”, so it wouldn’t count as her taking time off: Amalea told herself that she’d have to treat the chipmunk to a coffee.

As soon as the call had finished, Amalea had jumped in her car and had sped off to the hospital. After having faced the dreadfulness that was morning rush hour, she arrived at the hospital. She was quick to find a parking spot and she started her trek to entrance. She was too absorbed in thought to realise that her ‘walk’ was more of a jog, which gathered some confused stares.

She entered the hospital and started to look around, searching the helpdesk. She stopped her looking around to frantically, when a familiar voice calmly called her.

“Over here, Amalea,” it spoke.

She turned to see where the voice came from and saw an all-too-familiar vixen sitting in the waiting room.

“I didn’t take you for the type to sit down,” Amalea joked, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Don’t you start!”, came a sharp response, accompanied with a slight laugh.

Amalea set down next to the older vixen and started some idle chat. Very soon after though, the topic switched back to the reason as to why they were at the hospital, when Dolores came back to take them up to Aethus’ room. She was surprised to see Amalea at first, but figured that her unofficial mother-in-law had probably called her.

“Well, he’s no longer in the I.C.U. and they’ve moved him to his own room. They’ve told me that he’s still bandaged up, so he won’t be able to see us and he’ll be quite high on painkillers. We’re allowed to go see him though.”

Dolores finished talking with a sigh and was joined in her relieved sigh by the two other vixens. They all got up and made their way towards the fifth floor. Arriving on the fifth floor, the trio made their way over to the dermatology wing of the hospital. They all ended up in front of the door leading to Aethus’ room, each of them nervous and almost unwilling to open the door that would reveal Aethus. They all shared one nervous thought:

“Please be okay…”

With that final thought, Amalea took lead and opened the door that would reveal Aethus.


End file.
